All eyes are set on the Karnataka cabinet meeting on Friday where a decision will be taken on implementing the five guarantees promised by the ruling Congress during the assembly elections in May.
The finance ministry on Thursday raised concerns over the possible impact of El Nio conditions on India this year, saying if recent forecasts came true, the country could see lower agricultural output and higher inflation. "Some meteorological agencies predict the return of El Nio conditions in India this year. "If these predictions are accurate, then monsoon rains could be deficient, leading to lower agricultural output and higher prices," the ministry said in its monthly economic review.
Prime Minister Modi last week called for optimal grain storage, fire audits and mock drills in hospitals as preparations for the harsh summer forecast by the meteorological department.
Do the actual numbers bear out the claims made by the government or do they suggest something else? asks A K Bhattacharya.
The government on Monday said there is sufficient wheat stock in the country and that it will take action against hoarders, if needed, to boost domestic supply. The Centre may consider steps like asking for disclosure of wheat stocks by traders and imposing stock limits to augment domestic availability. Addressing the 82nd AGM of Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said there is no problem of wheat in the country and the Centre has 24 million tonne of wheat in godowns of state-owned FCI. The secretary pointed out that wheat prices have gone up due to "speculative trading".
'Punjab elections are there and so are UP elections. They must have done some calculations (before announcing the repeal).'
Companies offering much more for wheat than govt's Rs 850 a quintal.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has brought down the budgetary allocation for the fertiliser subsidy for FY21 to Rs 71,309 crore, from the RE of Rs 79,998 crore for FY20, while increasing food subsidy to FCI through "ways and means advance" to Rs 50,000 crore for FY21, from Rs 36,000 crore in RE for FY20, and under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to Rs 77,982 crore, from Rs 75,000 crore.
The Centre has received Rs 6,651 crore as interim dividend from 12 public sector undertakings (PSUs) on Monday, edging towards its Rs 50,028 crore dividend target for the ongoing fiscal. Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) has transferred Rs 2,506 crore as a dividend tranche to the government, while NMDC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India transferred interim dividend of Rs 1,605 crore and Rs 972 crore, respectively. The government has received dividend tranches of Rs 913 crore from GAIL, Rs 351 crore from Hindustan Aeronautics, Rs 149 crore from Bharat Electronics, among others, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.
India is expected to harvest 291.95 mt of foodgrain in 2019-20
'People in Punjab put their opinion very strongly there and it looks like they will fight. But, there is nothing like that, and they find solutions to their problems'
Modi had clearly not come to terms with the limits to a prime minister's powers, any prime minister's powers however strong numbers he may have in Parliament, observes Virendra Kapoor.
FCI's suspension of tur under MSP is likely to force farmers to undergo distress sales of the commodity.
The government allowed sugar companies and distilleries to make hand sanitizers using ethanol. Sugar companies supply ethanol to oil marketing companies for blending with petrol.
The government's predicament is a result of its own doing: That of not ensuring adequate buy-in by the stakeholders before passage of the laws, notes Vivek Gumaste.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday informed the media in Guwahati that in response to the request made by Dr Ram's son and wife, the state government decided to give its nod for a CBI probe into the incident.
"We are sure this time that it is Ram as we had prior information on his whereabouts in that particular village for the last 24 hours. We are sure about the identity, but we want Ram's family members to confirm it," he said.
'We can't lower wheat price beyond a point'
This is a formidable task which the Centre may find hard to shoulder without substantial involvement of the states.
Data compiled by National Collateral Management Services (NCML, a non-government body) shows a 6.3 per cent rise to 109 million tonnes (mt). The Union ministry of agriculture's first advance estimate was 100.5 mt, as compared to 102 mt in last year's fourth advance estimate.
In total, the Centre plans to purchase around 40.7 million tonnes of wheat from farmers this year, which is almost 19 per cent more than last year.
The CBI team surveyed the two rooms in the house where the two ULFA militants had taken refuge along with their hostage. The CBI team also collected documents related to the case from the state CID office in Guwahati and spoke with investigating officers.
The ULFA had demanded the release of two of its leaders Mrinal Hazarika and Pallab Saikia in exchange of release of the FCI Northeast boss.
'All imaginary figures are pushed by government bureaucrats.' 'They never showed that the production of wheat was less this time.'
Prime Minister Modi has certainly pulled back, and his political capital -- dependent as it is on an image that he knows best and never retreats -- may have taken a bit of a beating. But, equally, it is hard to say that the protesters have 'won', argues Mihir S Sharma.
'Had these three farm laws existed it would have become a huge election issue.'
He said the officials of his department, despite facing various hardships due to the unrest in the Valley, worked day and night to provide foodgrain to the consumers.
'A perception has been built in our country that whatever Modi says you cannot challenge that.'
Though COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown left a trail of economic devastation on most countries, India can potentially build upon three positive aspects - push in the rural economy, stronger federalism and a huge consumption base, former RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao Rao has said. In his foreword on a Telugu book titled "Maandhyam Mungita Desam" (Nation in Recession) authored by Tummala Kishore, he said the challenge for the government in the months and years ahead is clear: to put the economy back on a healthy growth trajectory and ensure that growth is inclusive, with lower income households too enjoying the benefits of rapid growth.
State Bank of India's house economists on Monday said the recent farm sector reforms reek of parochial thinking and promote lazy farming as they only cater to cereal-producing states. In the recently concluded monsoon session, the government rushed through three legislation to change the way agricultural produce is marketed, sold and stored by dismantling the decades-old APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) mandis.
Though the Bills of Punjab and Rajasthan have a lot of similarities, the one approved by the Chhattisgarh Assembly is structurally different. None of the three has tried to address a key demand of the agitating farmers in full, which is to make all payments below the MSP, within and outside mandis, illegal.
If more commodities which have seen a sharp rise in MSP are to be procured, such as pulses, oilseed and cereals, there could be a storage problem. Also, if state-owned Cotton Corporation of India joins in, this problem will aggravate.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has cleared 38 foreign direct investment proposals worth Rs 121.46 crore (Rs 1,214.6 million), including those of the United States-based Nalco Chemicals and French company FCI.
Of the foodgrains damaged, 9,141 tonnes was rice while 2,486 tonnes was wheat.
The government has ordered an enquiry and asked a senior FCI official to proceed on leave.
Foodgrain stocks held in government godowns amounted to 50.2 million tonnes at the start of the current month, according to the latest data from the Food Corporation of India.
The government on Wednesday said food grains worth Rs 3.63 crore (Rs 36.3 million) were damaged in 2009-10 fiscal in the godowns of Food Corporation of India (FCI), but this was over 70 per cent less than last year.
Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also said all Indians should ask the government this Independence Day what it was doing to protect the country and push China back.
The police are not yet sure about the involvement of any particular militant group behind the abduction. Neither has anyone claimed responsibility for the abduction nor has any ransom demand been made.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of providing free inoculation to all adults will entail total spending of anywhere between Rs 45,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore. This is higher than Rs 35,000 crore that the government had budgeted.
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